It’s been a lot of fun to read all the responses to the review I posted of the movie version of “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.”
People who love the book hate the movie; people who haven’t read the books or don’t remember them much, tend to think the movie is OK.
I don’t think much of the movie, but stand by what I said before: It’s not as bad as I feared it would be.
Of course, I thought it would be a huge, steaming pile of dragon dung. And it turns out to be not quite that big a pile. And more horse than dragon.
It’s still pathetic that it has that stupid scene wherein Bellatrix and Fenrir attack The Burrow, and it’s ridiculous that the fight scene after Dumbledore’s death is reduced to just Harry and Snape, and sad that Dumbledore’s funeral is missing.
Also … I missed the scene wherein Dumbledore meets the Dursleys, which is hilarious.Continue Reading →

The good news is that “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” directed by David Yates, isn’t half as bad as I feared it would be, given the cluster-bomb that was “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” which was also directed by Yates.
The really astounding news is that Michael Gambon was not a complete embarrassment to himself and to the entire profession of acting, as he was in “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.” In his fourth outing as Albus Dumbledore, Gambon is actually within shouting distance of the character most of the time, and has a few moments that are even well-considered.
The bad news, delivered by my 7-year-old boy after the screening: “It’s boring. It’s the worst of all the Harry Potter movies.”
But, to be fair, that’s because he is 7. There weren’t enough explosions or slapstick falls for his taste, which may mean the repeat-viewing box-office and DVD sales will be off. But for teens, there’s plenty of romantic humor and modest fireworks, as love finally begins to bloom between Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley, and between Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.
And the quidditch scenes this time are great.
The movie opens at many locations in the Bay Area tonight at midnight:01.
In “Half-Blood Prince” there are heavy issues at hand, leading to one of the most significant of all the deaths in the blood-spattered Harry Potter series. For people older than 7 there is a lot to keep them on the edges of their seats, even if quite a bit of it is shown in dialogue-heavy exposition instead of in action.
It’s no more Mr. Nice Lord Voldemort, for one thing. Whereas the most dangerous dark wizard of all time was laying low in “Phoenix,” in this movie he and his followers are wreaking havoc pretty much everywhere in Great Britain, murdering magic folks and muggles pretty much at will. People are afraid, and even Ollivander’s wand shop is deserted and ruined, as is most of Diagon Alley.
Perhaps to make that point, Yates throws in an invented scene — that is, a scene not in the book by J.K. Rowling — wherein Harry and Ginny are lured into a kind of swamp by the Weasley’s home, then attacked by Bellatrix Lestrange and Fenrir Greyback, who set the Weasley’s house on fire.
It’s an odd scene because it’s not really needed, doesn’t advance the story, and takes up time that could have been better used for other purposes in bringing Rowling’s significantly complicated and detailed story to the screen. Oh well; it’s only a movie.
Daniel Radcliffe as Harry, Emma Watson as Hermione and Rupert Grint as Ron are all wonderful, as they have been since “Sorcerer’s Stone,” and Bonnie Wright has become even more attractive as Ginny, the love of Harry’s life.
Oddly, Alan Rickman, who has been absolutely spot-on in his every moment on screen as the completely unlikable Severus Snape, is cleaner in this movie than he was in the first five. Someone let Snape shampoo his hair, which is largely out of character, but Rickman is so great in the role that it doesn’t much matter.
Jim Broadbent, an Oscar-winning character actor, is new to the Potter troupe, and does a fine and charming job as Prof. Horace Slughorn. Jesse Cave is likable as Lavender Brown, even as she calls Ron “Won-Won.” Oddly, when Hermione attacks “Won-Won” with magic birds, they miss him altogether and explode against a door. A chance missed.
And another odd detail: The Hogwarts Express was previously an all first-class affair, with the sort of compartments used only by the upper classes in Britain. In this movie, part of the train is second-class, and that is where Draco Malfoy (well played by Tom Felton) is seated. Which would never happen.
Oliver and James Phelps are back, all too briefly, as Fred and George Weasley. The Phelps twins have developed a devoted following. They have new haircuts, which will no doubt lead to much discussion on blogs.
I thought it was funny that Voldemort’s cave, where a horcrux had been hidden, was apparently modeled after Superman’s Fortress of Solitude.
This is the sixth of eight films being made from the seven books. The last book, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” will be split into two movies.
In “Half-Blood Prince,” Harry learns more about Voldemort’s background, and about the dark objects Voldemort created called horcruxes, in an effort to make himself immortal. There are issues of good and bad and the choices people make between them. The Rowling books are brilliant, poetic, in their exposition of this theme. The movies skim over the high points with varying degrees of success.
“Half-Blood Prince” is not the worst of the Harry Potter film series — despite what my 7-year-old says — nor is it the best. But it serves almost well enough to set up films seven and eight, as long as you don’t demand emotional or intellectual depth in your movies.